Majestic Ross cops 3rd at NABBA Mr. Universe in England
October 29, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under Sports
Crowd shows displeasure, felt he should have won
By Franklin Wilson
Guyana’s most decorated Bodybuilder Hugh Arlington Ross competing for the USA at the NABBA Mr. Universe held in England last weekend, placed third out of 22 World Champions at the prestigious event held at the Southport Theatre & Floral Hall Complex.
Of the four athletes who were selected to represent the USA at the event, Ross was the only one to make it to the finals, only three attended, the other was sidelined by injury.
Speaking with Kaieteur sport, Ross, who endured quite a bit of challenges during preparation including a death in the family, said 47 countries were represented at the event and the result is a very good one for him despite the crowd vociferously opposing the fact that he was placed third rather than first.
Competing in the Masters category, Ross noted that when he finally saw his competitors backstage at the prejudging, he had to ask a few of them if they were sure they were in the Masters division, alluding to their well chiseled and huge physiques.
“They all seem well prepared hence I immediately knew I had quite a fight on my hand for which I was also well prepared. I tried a different carbohydrate loading method this time around which worked well but perhaps I should have started it a few hours earlier to cater for the five hours difference in time between the US & the UK. The result was that I was a few pounds lighter than the goal I had in mind.”
The former USA Powerlifting champion disclosed that the prejudging was extremely tough and he was very exhausted after that, he had to return to the hotel to sleep while continuing his carbohydrate loading until the finals.
“Seemingly I was an audience favorite hence when I was announced in third they were very vocal in their dissatisfaction.”
But as a good sportsman Ross said he respected the final decision which saw him finishing behind winner Aivars Visockis of Latvia and Sam Ioannidis of Australia.
Davis Steele and Derek Jones both of the UK finished 4th and 5th respectively while Brazil’s Luiz Flavio Felicio took the 6th position.
Ross, who has since returned to the USA and has resumed training since there is a strong possibility that he would have to be on stage again very shortly, is expressing his deepest gratitude to all his supporters an fans.
He singled out for special mention, former Guyana Defence Force Capt. Chetwyn Eastman and family, who reside in England.
